The present invention relates to treating skin wounds, especially those resulting from surgery, by applying a specifically defined silicone composition over the wounds.
Skin wounds, whether caused by injury or surgery, raise several concerns. One concern is scarring. Scarring in many instances results in a diminished sense of touch, weak regions in the skin (where scars join unwounded skin), and obvious cosmetic problems. Scarring is presently associated with injury and surgical wounds. It is therefore desirable to minimize scarring.
Another concern is infection or contamination. This is because an exposed wound is an ideal breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Even with conventional dressings, infections are fairly common. It is therefore desirable to minimize infections.
Yet another concern is providing an effective wound dressing. Wound dressings must adhere to a wound, yet possess releaseability characteristics enabling a non-damaging removal from the wound. Wound dressings must also stretch/flex to accommodate skin or bodily movement. Depending upon where the dressing is located, it is sometimes desirable to decrease the conspicuousness, for example facial dressings. Wound dressings are characterized by frequent changing which is not only time consuming, but also leads to the undesirable production of medical waste. It is therefore desirable to provide improved wound dressings.
Laser surgery is associated with using a small, powerful beam of light to make a small burn or opening. Typically, the laser is used to remove unwanted, damaged, or diseased cells (layers of skin) without harming the surrounding healthy cells. Laser surgery is frequently used to treat sun-damaged skin, wrinkles, and scars including acne scars, among other uses. An undesirable consequence of laser surgery is post-operative redness.
Laser surgery healing involves skin regeneration, similar to healing conventional burn wounds. This is different from traditional surgery using a scalpel. Traditional surgery healing involves skin repair. Thus, there are unique demands associated with treating a laser surgery wound compared with traditional surgery wounds. Since laser surgery is a developing medical procedure, improvements in treating laser surgery wounds are necessary.
The present invention relates to treating skin wounds, especially those resulting from laser surgery, by applying a specifically defined silicone composition over the wounds. The present invention provides improved wound dressings in that the silicone based dressings do not need to be changed every day, as conventional dressings require. The silicone based dressings adequately adhere to a wound, yet possess releaseability enabling the non-damaging removal of the dressing from the wound. The silicone based dressings further minimize scarring and minimize potential infections. Another benefit associated with the silicone based dressings used in accordance with the present invention is the reduction of post-operative redness (reduction of the hue intensity of the redness as well as the duration of any redness).
In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of treating a wound, involving applying to the wound a room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition comprising a crosslinkable polysiloxane, a crosslinking agent, and a catalyst; permitting the room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition to cure thereby forming a membrane having a thickness from about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm; and removing the membrane from the wound after at least about 1 day.
In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of treating a laser surgery wound, involving combining a first composition comprising a first crosslinkable polysiloxane and a crosslinking agent with a second composition comprising a second crosslinkable polysiloxane and a platinum catalyst to form a room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition comprising the first and second crosslinkable polysiloxanes, the crosslinking agent, and the platinum catalyst; applying to the laser surgery wound the room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition; permitting the room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition to cure thereby forming a substantially transparent membrane having a thickness from about 0.25 mm to about 3 mm; and removing the substantially transparent membrane from the laser surgery wound after at least about 2 days.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method of treating a laser surgery wound, involving combining a first composition comprising a first crosslinkable polysiloxane and a crosslinking agent with a second composition comprising a second crosslinkable polysiloxane and a platinum catalyst to form a room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition comprising the first and second crosslinkable polysiloxanes, the crosslinking agent, and the platinum catalyst; applying to the laser surgery wound the room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition; permitting the room temperature vulcanizing silicone composition to cure thereby forming a substantially transparent membrane having a thickness from about 0.25 mm to about 3 mm; and removing the substantially transparent membrane from the laser surgery wound after at least about 4 days.